If you live aboard and cruise far and wide, have you ever been summoned by your "home" city or county for jury duty? Did you ease out of it or suffer consequences? I understand that New York City accepts very few excuses for not showing up, yet other places accept age, illness or travel as an excuse. I'm interested in all personal experiences from anyone with a U.S. address. Please spread the word. Is there another forum besides this one where I should post this question?

Gotta move to Australia. If you have a law degree you are relived of jury duty on the basis you might adversely affect the judgement (or something similar I could quote in pure legalese). Ok; I am not from the US, but that is the way it works over here. If you were convicted of a crime spending time incarcerated is equally affective. Just don’t ever expect to be granted a visa for America. I am really doing my best to avoid philosophical spiels about the basis of terrorism. Our free media has done a good enough job of late.

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__________________Life is a shipwreck but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats. - Voltaire

Voter registration was no problem. Hardest thing for me was to get a library card at the public library. They insisted on a street address. Told them I didn't live on a street, but the librarian couldn't get her head around that. I finally made up a street based upon my boat name. That got me a card.

I have been summoned for jury duty a couple of times in different states and I just explained to them that I had just moved out of state, and it was dropped. In both cases that was the literal truth, but I suspect you could use this "excuse" quite effectively if you were called and you couldn't make it easily. Strangely, I have not received a jury summons in probably 20 years, so I'm wondering if I'm on some sort of black list. I suspect that very few county clerks would expect someone to drop everything and hop on a plane in Tahiti to fly home for jury duty. If someone gave me a hard time about this I would immediately contact their superiors, and possibly a local politician or two. Actually, these days when I am out cruising I have it arranged so that I don't really need to get any snail mail on a regular basis, so chances are slim I would even get the notice in time.

Per Janet's questions, there are lots of things that can be done with a PO Box, but in many (most) states you do need to prove a physical street address with documentation in order to get a driver's license. This is all related to the Real ID act, so it is a federal law. Those of you who have used PO Boxes for driver's licenses up until now may be surprised that you will have to prove your physical address upon renewal. Credit cards may require a street address at first, but you can usually switch them to a PO box later. Once you've proven the physical address for a NY State driver's license they will let you use a PO Box to receive the mail.

For most of us who aren't trying to get away with something it is just easier to make our records look as ordinary as possible by finding a street address somewhere that can function as our physical address as needed on documents.

Sounds good. Specifics welcome. Please let us know which states will issue driver's licenses to a PO Box without stating a street address. Please name some major banks and brokerages that will open an account without requiring a physical address for their records. Many cruisers would love to know how to have a SSI check go into a bank account that can be opened without providing a physical address. Which passport offices don't require a street address from applicants? Which credit cards can I get without providing a street address? This isn't to say that one has to have a house ashore. It's about selecting a physical address ( a relative, a marina, one's lawyer, a mail forwarding service) that meets today's security requirements. Thanks for sharing.

When I got my WA driver's license, they actually had formal methods for proving residency for people who live-aboard. (If I remember correctly it was proof of the boat's WA registration and a current marina slip lease). As for the address, they said just to use the marina we were most often home-ported (the one on the slip lease would make sense). This was in 2009. WA doesn't have state income tax (but does have a hefty sales tax).

I am an attorney (and soon to be cruiser) so this is an interesting issue that probably doesn't come to most folks minds. In reading the thread there are some things that jump out as true and some not so true. First, there are consequences for not appearing for jury duty, namely, jail via a bench warrant. Once issued, only the judge who issued the warrant can recall that warrant and you probably won't find out about the warrant until you are being hosted in some confining space without he sunshine and views to which you are accustomed. There will also be the expense involved in hiring an attorney to get you out. Most land dweller can't grasp the "you live on a boat and go when and where you want" and judges are no different. "Sorry, Judge. I was exploring the lower Antilles and don't get regular mail." Yeah, that'll work great. If you are abroad, I suggest your snail mail be routed to an emailservice or trusted friend/family member. If you are called to serve, a simple call will typically get you out of service. "I am in the Maldives, sorry can't make it." is the most original excuse they will ever hear. You most likely can avoid the issue all together by contacting the judicial personnel responsible for issuing juror summons and being forthright before you leave. Ask them how jurors are chosen (usually drivers licenses and voter registration cross data base) and you may be able to thwart the process. They may also be willing to remove you from the data base with an Affidavit that you will be gone. Whatever you do, don't just ignore a juror summons and hope it goes away. Bench warrants can pop up when you are attempting to re-enter the US now that Homeland Security has integrated the State computer systems. "Welcome home, Mr. Smith. You have right to remain silent ...." is not the way to end a cruise.

got letter back in 1995 sent to po box number i used as address for drivers license,,{used street address of UPS store as physical address with ste, as prefix for box number} manager dont care if you use po or ste, as all and have been issued many speeding tickets since,,no comebacks and no more letters for duty,,if this thread has become a request by janetgroene for info on who to appear fixed when you really have no fixed address the UPS store advise is all you get from me,,once these secrets are published doors will close all over town,,banks are paranoid about terrorist money launderers so you will get no info about all that jazz from me and simply put the bank that knows you does even care what country you live in,,advertising how to collect govt checks, free medicare and ghost addresses on the net is not cool especially if your gonna publish a book about it detailing how-to,,does the word fraud/fib still make that check /service your after worth the risk,,you might never even need a doctor and that is a resident based service,,good luck with your book and hope it contains the usual bs ive read that red flags computer systems and smart cards like amex,,the info your after is private, identity theft is fastest growing crime on this planet and you want to publish how-to book,,geez

Cbdavidson, I don't dispute what you say, but maybe that is just a risk some us will have to take, because it simply is not possible to receive mail in many parts of the world and similarly it may be very difficult to make a phone call in those areas. It makes me wonder what happens to an ordinary traveler who maybe goes to Europe for a couple of months and doesn't have his or her mail forwarded. Is there some legal obligation to have your mail forwarded or opened? Governments can't expect everyone to just hang around the mail box in case they should get called up for jury duty.

Last cruise e were gone about 9 months, removed mailbox from posr and all mail gets returned to sender. No one at this address works good. Told this by a local judge. In his words, if ot can't be delivered, you aren't in trouble because you don't live there. He knows we cruise and that's the simplest way to do it.

All we receive in the mail anyway are a few magazines that go to out daughters address, which she wull send to us when wanted.

__________________Formerly Santana
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In Alaska, I have been summoned for jury duty a number of times, when the notice comes in, someone staying at my house calls the clerk of the court and notifies them that I am out of the country and they strike me from the list until the next time I come up on the rolls. I live in a small town so it happens more frequently than other areas. I once did serve on a jury and I believe it is part of our responsibility as citizens. If we can be there we owe it to the accused to do our part. The one case I was on, if left to the lawyers,and the Judge, an innocent man would have went to jail. The jury was the only reason he received a fair shake, which surprised the Judge and both attorneys. One never knows when One might have to face a Judge and jury, and if that ever happens to me, I hope that the people on the jury are not just the people who couldn't think up a good enough excuse to get out of the duty. BTW they use the voter registration rolls here to collect a jury pool.